A Tactician and a Thief
by Onionbreath002
Summary: Chapter 4's up a bit earlier than I had intended. It's all good though. Sorry for the wait, but finals and stuff...you know the drill. Start of Hector's tale, the chapters will vary in length depending on game chapter now so be wary of that. Yeah... e
1. Turbulent Reunion

Erk: …okay…for this fic…Charlie will have a new muse. -restraining someone with red hair-

Leila: LEMME AT HIM!!!! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!!! HE WILL DIE!!! DIE, GO TO HELL, AND BURN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Erk: -holding her back- Calm down there….

Leila: CALM DOWN?!!! WHAT IF HE WROTE A FIC ABOUT KILLING SERRA?!

Erk: Hallelujah?

Leila: Grr…

Charlie: Okay…if you haven't guessed, this fic DOES bash Matthew. For those of you who don't know me well. On a FE forum called Merlinus' Tent, I was notorious for being the "resident Matthew-basher."

Leila: YOU'RE A MONSTER AND YOU'RE GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL!!!

Charlie: Ahem anyways. My hatred for Matthew has very deep roots. So now, I'm writing a fic sorta based on my experiences with Matthew and MT. Oh and for you ladies who are infatuated with the cheery thief, I live in Wyoming.

Erk: And -tries to knock Leila out- He does not own FE. -lets go-

Charlie: Oh…you did not just let her g- AHHHHHHHHHHHH-

-very ugly beating sounds.-

Erk: …that's gonna leave a mark…Oh and it'll be a cold day in hell before people believe that Wyoming lie.

-------------------------

"Ahh crap, ten minutes in town and already this." A young man of 17 groaned. He was the tactician of a ragtag group of army affectionately known to its members' as "Lyndis' Legion"

"Oh well…time to dish out some pain guys." He said, taking on a commanding tone. "Sain, stop staring at Lyn's legs and go shank that archer. Erk, I want that merc there turned into a pile of raw steaks ASAP! Lyn, take Rath and Serra and go ask around town for help. Florina, get rid of that mage over there. Wil, snipe that cavelier off his horse, or snipe his horse, I don't care. Kent, keep Sain in order. Come on people! Lets move. I ain't paying you by the hour!"

"You don't pay us at all." Sain groaned.

"That's irrelevent." The tactician muttered. "It was a damn figure of speech. NOW MOVE!!! Unless you want to die."

The group moved out without question. The tactician may seem rough at times, but he wasn't by nature nasty. He was in fact a joker, a born prankster, but when it came down to battle, he was as strict as the toughest military instructor in Lycia. No one in the army dared to disobey him, not even the Lady Lyndis for she knew that he has their saftey in mind.

The army quickly spread out. Soon, the nearby assassins were dispatched of. Lyn took her group due north towards a group of houses. There, Serra, Rath and she spread out to cover the entire neighborhood more quickly. After a while, the trio found nobody who could help them, they did however pick up a few keys and other useless junk the populace of Araphen found laying around.

"Well, that's all we're gonna get here." Serra said. "Let's go! It's getting boring."

Lyn sighed. Serra's personality was certainly interesting. She was still getting used to it. But this time, the hyperactive cleric was right. There could be nothing gained from loitering around the residential area so she gave the order to go back. Just as she was about to lead the group back to the tactician to report. A cherry voice called out.

"Yo, hold up!"

Lyn turned around and found a sandy-haired character rushing towards them. She tightened her grip on her sword as a precaution.

"Who are you?" She asked the newcomer. "And what do you want?

"Name's Matthew. I specialize in…erm…shall we say dexteral skills?" The man replied

"So…you're a thief." Lyn said bluntly.

"Well, that's one way of putting it." Matthew replied, giving a cheery smile.

"We have no need of a thief. Good day sir." Lyn said. She was an honorable person, and cheerful or not, she was not about to deign to accept help from a thief.

"Ahh, but I can help you open those doors there that you so want to go through." Matthew said, nonchalantly.

Lyn gave him a incredulous look. "…How…did?"

"Seems like I hit the mark. So what do you say." Matthew continued in his same cool voice.

Lyn had no choice but to accept. She pointed out to Matthew which doors needed opening. Nodding curtly, Matthew set about breaking the locks of the closest door. To Lyn's amazement, the door opened with a soft click mere moments later.

"Impressed?" Matthew asked.

"Quite…" Lyn whistled. "Okay, I'll go tell Charlie, you Rath and Serra, you follow Matt and find those triggers."

Rath and Serra nodded and followed the thief towards the castle. Lyn turned around and walked back to where the tactician stood.

"Charlie." She called out.

The tactician looked up upon hearing his name. "Ahh, Lyn. So, did you find any help?"

Lyn nodded. "Yes, a thief. I don't really approve of having a thief, but he is skilled at opening doors."

"Well, needy people shouldn't be picky." Charlie agreed. "Just watch your pockets. I have had…very bad memories of a thief who I used to know."

"Ahh. I'll remember that." Lyn said.

"Good. Now come on, the others are pretty much finished down here. We'll meet them near that huge opening that opened up there." Charlie said pointing to a gap in the castle wall that was getting wider and wider. "Looks like they found a trigger."

Lyn nodded slowly as she and Charlie approached the castle.

--

Serra walked along with Rath and the new guy. She was miserable. Her talkative nature was being seriously subdued by Rath's quietness and well, the shyness of the new guy. Serra stomped along in silence, royally pissed.

"I'll get that Lady Lyndis for making me come here with two sticks!" She grumbled.

"Well now, I wouldn't say I'm a stick." The new guy replied.

Serra did a double take. There was no mistaking that voice, and that corny sense of humor.

"MATTHEW!!!" She screamed before clobbering the poor thief with a hug.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Matthew screamed from suddenly being tackled from behind. "Oh for the love of Saint Elimine, GET OFFA ME!!!"

"MATTY!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!!! OHMIGOSH IT'S BEEN SO LONG!!!"

Matthew, now near suffocating. "IT'S BEEN THREE WEEKS!!! AND GET OFF ME BEFORE I DIE FROM LACK OF OXYGEN!!!"

Serra gasped and finally let go of the poor thief. Matthew grumbled and pulled himself to his feet, dusting his clothes off.

"Seriously woman, you gotta control those outbursts." He muttered.

Serra however, didn't hear. She was busy dashing towards a purple haired mage who was arriving with the rest of the army at the entrance. Matthew chuckled. He could tell Serra had a 'thing' for this mage, and he never felt more sorry for any other man. He found his new employer among the group, who was apperantely the Marquess of Caelin's daughter. She was walking next to the person he guessed was tactician, who had black hair and towered over her. Matt decided it was time to introduce himself.

Lyn found Matthew walking towards her and she quickly tapped Charlie on the shoulder. "That's him. That's the new thief."

"Cheerful looking fellow ain't he?" Charlie chuckled seeing the sandy-haired man

"Heh, he is." Lyn chuckled a bit. "Come on, lets go introduce you."

Lyn pulled Charlie next to Matthew. "Matthew, this is that tactician Charlie. Charlie, this is Matthew, the thief."

What came next shocked Lyn to the very fiber of her being. Instead of warm greetings and a handshake. The two men screamed out in surprised and each drew a sword.

"Huh? What's going on?" Lyn asked confused.

"Remember that thief I told you about? Matt's the thief." Charlie said through gritted teeth.

"Well, I see you're as friendly as ever." Matt said. Lyn noticed the cheerfulness of his voice was gone.

"Shut up you bastard." Charlie retorted back.

The two looked about ready to slice the other open when Lyn stepped in.

"Cut it out you two!" She yelled. "Now's not the time to be fighting each other! Like it or not, you're on the same side, so I suggest you work together."

Both men glared at her and reluctantely sheathed their weapons.

"Fine…" Charlie grumbled. "Go kill that knight over there Lyn, and Matt, go do what you do best, cause trouble. Oh and I suspect you have enough self control to keep your hands out of the Princess of Caelin's pockets?"

"Yes, as long as you can keep your big overinflated head out of my business." Matt shot back.

Lyn sighed as she pushed Charlie away from Matt. Charlie soon calmed down a little and gave Lyn additional orders. Lyn nodded and rushed off to kill the head knight, keeping half an eye out for Matthew, making sure the thief stayed away from the tactician. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him running circles around a soldier. Sighing, she continued on towards her objective.

--

That night, after the battle's won and lost, the group set up camp outside of Araphen. Lyn was fuming, having been insulted so deeply by the Marquess of Araphen. The only consolation was that the group now gained the skills of Rath, who quit after the Marquess' harsh words against Sacaens.

To Charlie, it made no difference whether or not the Marquess consented to aid them. These Lycian trained soldiers were worth a dime a dozen, having as much skill as a retarded boulder. He preferred to take a smaller group of well trained individuals than an army of mindless drones. In short, the Marquess' refusal was more of a blessing to the tactician.

Charlie sat near his tent, away from the commotion. He preferred to let the soldiers settle their own disputes. Funny how most disputes end up with Sain getting either slapped, yelled at or otherwise abused. He chuckled, that man needed to cool down. Sain was charming, but his manners are pitiful. Just as Charlie settled down with his bottle of whiskey, he heard a cheerful voice.

"Drinking again?" It was Matthew

"Shut up…" Charlie grumbled back before taking a swig.

"Mind if I join you?" Matthew asked.

"Your liver." Charlie said before pulling out a glass for Matthew.

The two sat there, drinking in silence. There was an unspoken hostility that lingered in the air, but as they drank more, the hostility slowly began to fade.

Finally, Charlie broke the silence. "Do you ever wonder what happened between us?"

"Not until this afternoon." Matt replied. "Why?"

"Because it's funny. Five years ago we were friends, training together in Ostia. But then… what happened?"

"Well…" Matt said getting a far-off look. "You became a tactician and I became an Ostian Spy."

"Yeah…funny thing. I always wanted to become an Ostian Spy." Charlie chuckled.

"And I wanted to become a tactician." Matt said back.

The men stared at each other and laughed.

"So, you were jealous of me, and I was jealous of you." Charlie said through fits of laughter.

"Basically." Matt chuckled back.

The two shared another good laugh. After calming down, Charlie poured another round of whiskey. They were beginning to get whoozy.

"So, how's Leila?" Charlie asked.

"Why the sudden interest in my life?" Matt asked back.

"Because, a, I'm curious, and b, you have a brown haired girl latched to your feet."

Matthew looked down at his feet. Sure enough, there was a young girl hugging him tightly. She looked up at him with big bright eyes and smiled. "You're mine!" She squealed

Matthew was too drunk to realize the seriousness of this and he and Charlie shared another good laugh.

"Matt, I have a feeling that we're gonna keep arguing until the day we die." Charlie said before pouring out the last of the whiskey. The girl hugging Matt's leg fell asleep. Charlie light scooped her up and tucked her into his sleeping bag before holding up his cup. "Here's to future arguments buddy."

Matt raised his cup. "To future arguments!"

Then the two men downed their last cup and spent the rest of the night talking and laughing.

Lyn saw Charlie and the new guy drink themselves silly as if they were old buddies and shook her head. 'Boys will be boys…' She thought before going to bed. 'But at least they're getting along.' She couldn't help but chuckle to herself. This adventure was getting very interesting, and she couldn't wait to see what the future has in store.

-----------------------------

Charlie: Don't get me wrong, I like Matt's personality, I just hate his skill.

Leila: YOU…IMBECILE!!!

Erk: Charlie…-restraining Leila- are you suicidal?

Charlie: Not really, why?

Erk: You act like you are.

Leila: I'LL KILL YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!!!

Charlie: Calm down girl. Anyways, please leave a review and tell me what you think about it. Feel free to flame me for bad writing and no, writing a Matthew-bash is not bad writing, it's just good taste (or bad taste depending on who you are.) Anyways, enjoy.


	2. The End of the Beginning

Charlie: I'm back…and I must say the weather down here in So Cal is FREEZING!

Erk: Sadly, I must agree.

Charlie: Anyways, aside from my fingers freezing off right now, I'm having fun bashing Matthew again. Oh and Leila is too busy with he cold to kill me.

Leila: I'll… -ACHOO- …get… -ACHOO- …you… -ACHOO-…someday!!!

Charlie: Right…okay anyways. This is the second chapter. And no, I do not own FE, nor any other random stuff that shows up in here.

---

Charlie woke up the next morning with the king of all hang-overs. His head felt ready to explode on command. Groaning in pain, he slid out of bed and walked clumsily out of his tent. The rest of the group, save his drinking buddy Matthew, were already busy tearing down camp and packing up to leave. Charlie groaned. He did not feel strong enough to do anything right now.

Lyn saw the dazed tactician walk slowly around the camp towards the showering area. She sighed. The boy was barely over seventeen years old yet he drank more than a thirty-seven year old man. Motioning to Sain and Kent, the Sacaen took the liberty of tearing down and packing Charlie's tent for him, making sure to destroy a couple bottles of whiskey in the process. Lyn knew that the alcoholic tactician would go nuclear if she dumped all the wine, but by dumping little by little, she hoped to at least deter him from his drinking problem.

As Kent and Sain finished packing Charlie's tent, Kent noticed another hung-over figure across the field. Lyn followed the direction of the cavelier's finger and sighed when she saw the thief he was pointing to. Matthew, like Charlie, was trudging along towards the showering area, looking as if he were hit by a fifty-ton brick. Even worse, Lyn noted, Matthew had a young girl clinging onto his leg. Furious, the lord stormed across the half decomposed camp and confronted the hung-over man.

"MATTHEW!!!" She screamed, causing both Matthew and the showering tactician to hold their heads and scream in agony. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?! YOU DRINK YOURSELF DRUNK AND THEN SLEEP WITH A YOUNG GIRL?!! I OUGHTA NEUTER YOU FOR THIS!!!"

Matthew, still at a loss as to what was occuring around him, held his head in agony.

"Ahh, Lyn…" He pleaded. "Please…soft voices…my head feels like it got shot out of a cannon."

Lyn growled, grabbed Matthew by the collar, and tossed him into the shower. After nearly being drowned, Matthew finally snapped from his own little world. Looking up, he saw a furious Lyn standing over him with murder in her eyes. Unsure of what he did wrong, or how he even got to where he was, he stood up, dusted himself off, and faced the angry lord.

"Umm…what's up?" He asked, a bit subdued.

"YOU TELL ME!!!" Lyn screamed, her voice getting loud enough as to attract a crowd. "YOU DRINK YOURSELF SILLY AND NOW YOU JUST TOOK THAT GIRL'S INNOCENCE!"

Lyn jabbed an angry finger at the same brown-haired girl that was latching onto Matt's leg yesterday, now latching onto his waist. She was still sound asleep, but her ruffled hair and disheveled clothes communicate to the world a very… 'unfortunate' circumstance.

Matthew looked down at the girl grabbing his waist and blinked. He did not remember her, or how she even got there. As his eyes went from her sleeping face to her messy hair and disheveled blouse and dress, a look of terror dawned on his face. He looked up at Lyn, almost pleadingly.

"I swear, I know nothing of this!" He said righteously.

"NOTHING OF THIS MY ASS!!!" Lyn screamed. She was in a passion. The entire army was now gathered around her and Matthew, except for the still hung-over tactician.

"Lyn! I know I got drunk, but I don't even remember how, or when she came into my tent! Heck, I don't even remember being undressed this morning! You have to believe me Lyn, NOTHING HAPPENED!"

Lyn however, was not about to yeild her position. If there was anything in the world she hated, it was men who take advantage of innocent, unsuspecting girls while drunk. She was determined to bring justice to this young innocence, robbed of her chasity at such a young age. Drawing her sword, she held it out, holding the point at Matthew's neck.

"You will die today." Lyn scowled. "Men like you who have no honor deserves to die."

Matthew gulped. He knew if Lyn was serious, he would be a dead man. The young lord's speed matched his, and sadly, his sword arm was much weaker than hers. Plus the girl latched onto his waist weighed him down like a sack of potatoes. He closed his eyes and prepared for death.

Just as Lyn was about to dish justice, she heard a soft moan and a yawn. She looked down to see the girl hugging Matthew stirring. Sheathing her weapon, she quickly moved over to pry her off the unfortunate thief. Lyn felt great pity for this youth. The girl was vibrant and quite beautiful, but now she has lost the one thing no one can return: her virginity. As the girl opened her bright brown eyes, Lyn felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Mm….where am I?" The girl asked sleepily. "The last thing I remember was hugging this cutie, then I was dreaming about getting married."

"Girl…what's your name?" Lyn managed to ask, unable to tell her the truth.

"Melodie, why?" She replied.

"…do you remember this man?" Lyn asked tearfully, pointing to Matthew.

Melodie took one look at Matthew, blinked, and squealed at the top of her lungs before lunging at him and latching herself onto the poor man.

"HE'S SOOOOO CUTE!!!" She squealed.

Lyn was taken by shock. She looked at Matthew's pleading eyes and the young girl's innocent bliss as she squeezed the life out of the thief.

"Erm…" She said finding a loss of words. "Okay, maybe I was wrong. Sorry about that Matthew."

Matthew, now quickly finding himself at a lack of oxygen, quickly assured Lyn that no harm was done. Then he proceeded to attempt to pry the girl loose. Lyn chuckled as she watched him break one crowbar after another in his pathetic attempts. She decided to leave him be.

After everything was packed, and the tactician was fished from the showers, the group decided to ride out. Weeks passed, and Lyn finally found herself face to face with her great uncle, Lord Lundgren.

It was a cloudy day when the army arrived at Caelin. When the group arrived at the outskirts, everyone immediately took on an air of seriousness. The tactician once again took on a commanding role, making calculations and devising numerous strategies. Eventually, he scrapped all his notes and decided to go on his gut. The final battle drew near and the tension was so think, one could cut through it with a knife.

At dawn, Charlie gave the order to advance. He moved relentlessly and ruthlessly. As the cavelier duo of Kent and Sain charged the middle with Lyn and Matthew at support, he ordered Florina to take Wil into the mountains to soften the resistance with some sniping. Florina, with a blush, accepted and soon everyone was busy fighting with a strong passion and a will to defeat evil, a will to bring justice to the suffering people, a will to survive.

As Charlie watched the knights and Lyn slice open one enemy after another, he noticed Matthew dragging behind them. He quickly ordered Serra the cleric to stop glomping Erk and check up on Matthew. When she returned, she had an interesting account of a young girl latched onto the poor thief. Curious, the tactician armed himself and set forth to personally check it out. He ordered Erk take the new monk Lucius and Serra and follow the caveliers and burn any enemy the others missed into ashes. Then he approached Matthew to see what was really going on.

Matthew was getting very annoyed. The girl refused to let go, and she was hindering him from assisting in the battle. After trying, and failing, at various techniques of removing the girl, Matthew decided to just give up and sit the battle out since he was obviously of no help. Just then, he found the tactician approach him, armed with a sword. Matthew didn't like the looks of it; Charlie absolutely despised slackers in battled, and Matthew nearly got killed the last time he tried it. He expected more yelling from the stern man, but as Charlie got closer, Matt saw that he was actually laughing.

"Haha, so it was true, you gotta lover." Charlie joked, chuckling a little.

"Oh shut up and leave me alone, unless you can get her off me." Matthew growled.

"Sorry loverboy." Charlie chuckled. "Short of chopping her arms off, there's no way I could detach her from you. Besides, I already tried before, remember?"

Matthew thought back, then he started laughing too. The first time Charlie tried to separate Melodie from him, the poor tactician got bit, scratched, kicked and poked in the eye. After that, Charlie made it a point to stay away from the "Brown-haired Demoness" as he called her.

"Heh, well, now I can really call you weak. You got your ass kicked by a girl." Matthew chucked.

"Oh, touche…" Charlie said, feigning hurt. "But still, I need you in battle."

Charlie kneeled down and took out a bottle of colored liquid. For a moment, Matthew thought he was going to poison the poor girl, but then, he saw the label marked as "sleeping potion". He sighed, and was relieved to actually have this powerful grip released. Charlie held the bottle out and smiled at the girl.

"It's grape juice." He said smiling.

"Ohh, yummy!" Melodie squealed before drinking the entire glass. The effect was instantaneous. As soon as the last drop entered her mouth, Melodie's head drooped, and she fell limp into Charlie's arms, sound asleep.

Charlie picked her up. She felt light in his arms, but then she wasn't exactly a big person.

"…She's barely past your shoulder Matt, how can you not overpower her?" Charlie asked jokingly.

Matt pretended to be hurt, looking at Charlie with sarcastically pained eyes. "How could you?! I nearly die fighting this war and you accuse me of being a weakling? Oh!" He added that last 'oh' with extra drama. The two man stood there for a full five seconds before bursting out laughing. After they both calmed down, Charlie sent Matthew on his way to slaughter a few people. Then the tactician carried the sleeping girl back to the rudimentary base he set up. Finding the sibling pair Nils and Ninian whom the army picked up a while back, he led the two kids to a nearby inn, away from the massacre going on near the castle. After checking into a room and setting Melodie on the bed, he gave Nils and Ninian some money in case they got hungry. After telling the siblings to stay put and watch over Melodie, Charlie strode from the room, intent on returning to the battle.

As the young tactician walked out of the city, an old woman tappend him on the shoulder. Turning around, Charlie found the beldame holding out a peculiar looking ring. She was speaking in a croaked voice and spoke only two words. "Take it…" Charlie looked from the old lady to the ring, and nerviously took the ring. The beldame smiled lightly and told him in her croaking voice to use that ring wisely. Charlie wondered what a simple ring could do, but he thanked her graciously for the gift.

When the tactician arrived at the battle scene, he saw that his tactics were working splendidly. Lundgren had but two of his knights left alive, and Lyn and the others were bearing down on them like a merlin after its prey. Soon, Lundgren was alone, a single ruthless man against the fury of a granddaughter scorned. Lyn looked upon her granduncle with contempt, wishing no less then to plunge her Mani-Katti into the old geezer's gut and make him scream in pain.

"Little girl, you couldn't just leave your barbaric butt out of this couldn't you?" Lundgren was spitting out, his voice still dripping of venom.

"You…horrible man, what have you done to my grandfather?!" Lyn screamed back.

"That miserable man? Oh don't worry, he'll be joining you in hell soon enough." Lundgren laughed, confident of his victory.

Lyn was furious. "The only man going to hell is you!!!" She screamed.

Then the Sacaen drew her Mani Katti, and charged at her uncle. Charlie watched on, knowing Lyn's plight was hopeless. Lundgren's age and sheer bulk of armor prevented him from effectively striking at her, but his steel carapice of armor kept Lyn from scratching him the least.

After what seemed like twenty rounds of attacking and retaliation, Charlie ordered Kent to go rescue Lyn. The skirmish was getting no where. Nothing was being accomplished save a few dents on Lundgren's armor and a dozen or so chips on Lyn's sword. Lyn, unhappy about being dragged from battle, gave Charlie five across the face the moment Kent released her struggling body from his grip.

"YOU IMBECILE!!! I WAS WINNING!" She yelled, not quite comprehending what her mouth was saying.

Charlie stood there, calmly listening to Lyn rant. But his exterior masked a turbulent interior. He was at a complete loss as to how they were going to defeat this brick wall of a usurper. But, as Lyn's rant came to an end, Charlie's fingers brushed against something in his pocket. He took it out and found that the ring the old lady from the village gave him was still there. She had told him to use the ring wisely, but Charlie was only seventeen years old and far from being a sage. He figured it was now or never. Just as Lyn's tirade came to a close, Charlie wipped the ring out and slapped it onto Lyn's finger. The Sacaen was taken by shock.

"Wha?!" She stammered, not comprehending what the tactician just did. But as the ring settled onto her finger, she felt her body surge with energy. She felt ten times stronger than before, and ten times braver as well. She looked up at the tactician.

"What was that?" She asked

"Some lady gave me it and told me to use it wisely. I ain't a sage, but now is as good of a time to use it as any. Do you feel different?"

Lyn nodded. "A bit stronger."

Charlie smiled. "Good," then he turned more towards the rest of the group to address them all. "Okay guys, now here's the plan…"

--

Lundgren stood at his gate, wondering where that blasted niece of his disappeared off to. He despised the halfling, and wanted nothing more to see her and his pitiful brother die and be out of the way. Thoughts of power danced in his mind as he plotted his future as a leader. Then as a rude awakening to his daydreams, a steel arrow shot in from nowhere and lodged itself in his shoulder. He roared in pain and quickly scanned the area for an archer.

Wil smiled to himself among the bushed. He was pleased to know that his archery has gotten better. Waiting for the signal, Wil notched another bow, and let it fly the moment he heard the signal.

Lundgren was being assulted from multiple fronts, and he had no idea where his assilents were coming from. Though the attacks themselves weren't devastating, the damage added up quickly. After the third javelin lodged itself in his leg, Lundgren could feel his strength draining from the loss of blood. The man blinked. He was blacking out. Just before he fell unconscious, he saw his niece walking towards him, sword drawn. Realizing the inevitable, the miserable dictator attempted one last time to stay awake but failed miserably and fell into a state of unconsciousness.

Lyn stood over her uncle who was laying in a pool of his own blood. Although Lundgren was her kin, she felt no compassion towards him. Instead she felt anger and hate. Around her, Lyn sensed the rest of the army slowly gathering, emerging from their hiding places. She sensed the tactician, watching her from behind, her shy friend Florina, hiding behind the archer Wil, Serra the cleric chanting 'kill' under her breath and her escort Erk sighing in frustration at his client. Lyn sensed Kent and Sain as well, dismounted, waiting for her to finish her…to drive the Mani Katti into the heart of Lundgren. Lyn took a deep breath and raised her sword, wondering if her action was justified. Around her, the tension mounted, everyone waited for the final blow. Florina covered her eyes, afraid of what she may see. But the blow never came. In a flash, Lyn dropped her sword, and stepped over Lundgren into the castle. The company around her let go of the sigh they held in.

Charlie smiled at Lyn's fading form. The young Sacaen had learned much from her travels with him, and he could ask for no better a decision. He slowly dispersed everyone, having the caveliers clear up the mess and sending the magic users to retrieve the siblings and Melodie. He looked up. The cloudy skies were beginning to clear, and a ray of sunlight splashed him in his face. Charlie smiled as he noticed the clichéness of it all. Sighing, he found Matthew helping clean the mess near the gate, and moved in to assist his friend.

--

A few days later, the recovering Marquess of Caelin threw a grand ball in the castle, and all of the city was invited. It was an extravagent event, in honor of the return of the Princess of Caelin.

As Matthew arrived at the castle that day, he found Melodie standing at the door in a night gown waiting for him. He groaned. The girl would not leave him alone, no matter what he did to push her away. So reluctantly, Matthew took her hand and walked into the ballroom with her.

The ballroom was extravagantly decorated. Balloons and streamers streatched from wall to wall. Glittering objects shaped in celestial bodies hung from the ceiling. The wealth put into the decoration was only matched by the amount of money spent on food preparation. Matthew had yet to see such a display of rich food in one gathering, not even at the parties in Ostia. He found himself smiling, maybe this was going to be a good party.

After Melodie let go of Matt for the food, the thief took his opportunity to escape. Ducking his head, he drifted among the crowds until Melodie was nowhere in sight. Matthew breathed a sigh of relief and went about searching for Charlie. He smiled at the possibilities, and decided to search Lyn out. He noticed throughout their travels that Charlie and the lord were very close. Whether it was romance or strategy Matthew did not know for sure, but he had a very strong feeling that it was romance. But when he found Lyn with her grandfather and Charlie no where in sight, his theory fell apart. He then set about to search for him the hard way.

When Charlie could not be found after Matt has milled around the crowds for hours, he decided that something was up. Quietly excusing himself from the party, Matthew walked up the hallway towards the tactician's temporary quarters in the castle. Arriving at the door way, Matthew found the man quietly packing his belongings.

"And where the hell are you going?" Matthew asked, his voice soft and stern.

"I don't recall that being of your business Matt." Charlie replied, not even flinching at Matthew's sudden apperance. He tied his bag up and turned to face Matthew. "I need to leave. My usefulness is over. I can't keep mooching off Lady Lyndis and her grandfather."

"Whoa, I gotta correct a few things here." Matthew interrupted. "First, when the hell did you start calling Lyn 'Lady Lyndis'? And seriously, Lyn owes you for helping her come back to Caelin, so you're not technically 'mooching' off her And for heavens sake put those things down and come to the party!"

"I can call Lady Lyndis whatever I want to call her." Charlie replied coolly, without putting down his bag. "I don't want to stay here any longer. I despise being a freeloader, so just leave me the hell alone and get out of my way." Charlie's voice suddenly became menacing and he glared at Matthew, waiting for him to move.

"I'm not moving Charlie." Matthew said defiantly. "I know you, you're running away… you ALWAYS run away."

"I'm not running from ANYTHING." Charlie snapped back. "I just don't want to be a burden."

"Why? Because you began to develop feelings for Lyn?" Matthew retorted

"…Don't be ridiculous…" Charlie's voice wavered. "Now move… or else."

"I'm…not…moving…" Matthew said stubbornly.

"Then I'm sorry…"

Matthew had no time to ponder before a huge stick bashed him in the back of his head and knocked him senseless. He woke up a week later in the infirmary ward, with a sleeping Melodie at his side and a worried Lyn standing behind her.

"Matt, are you awake?" Lyn asked

"Yeah…what happened?" Matthed replied slowly. His head felt ready to explode

"I don't know. We found you in a closet three days after both you and Charlie went missing." Lyn answered

Matthew could've sworn he detected a hint of sadness in Lyn's voice, but dismissed it as his head playing tricks on him. His mind reeled back to the encounter with his friend. He wondered…how did the tactician manage to knock him out so badly? His head hurt from just thinking about it.

"He's gone Lyn… I'm sorry…"

Lyn looked at Matthew in surprise. "Charlie? What happened?"

Matthew considered telling her the truth, but he decided it was best not to let it be known just yet. "I don't know…"

Lyn looked at the thief sadly. "I'm sure he'll be back…" She said hopefully. Then she looked down towards Melodie. Matthew noticed that the girl's normally pretty face was tarnished with wet streaks.

"She's been crying at your side for the past week." Lyn said. "Looks like you got a girlfriend."

Matthew laughed weakly. "That would be great, if I didn't already have one…" He mumbled before settling back into his pillow.

'Where did you go you moron?' He asked in his mind before settling back into a more peaceful slumber.

Five hundred miles away, Charlie sat on a ledge overlooking a distant Caelin. He had his bottle of whiskey in his hand, already half empty. Sighing, the young man poured himself another cup. He raised the cup towards the distant city and smiled.

"Here's to everyone…" he said before tossing the cup out and downing the rest of the bottle.

Having drank himself silly, the tactician wobbled off towards a nearby inn, muttering one last phrase before turning around.

"…I'll be back…don't worry…"

---

Charlie: Wow…Cheesy

Erk: How come you always get drunk?

Charlie: Because I do. How's Leila doing?

Erk: Well, in between her grief that you knocked Matthew out and stuffed him into a closed, her rage at having Melodie steal her boyfriend, and her intense urge to kill you, I'd say she's about ready for the insane asylum

Charlie: Well, at least she won't kill me in an insane asylum.

Erk: Your concern for your muses is quite enticing…

Charlie: Haha, don't quite your day job. Anyways…I got one request for Florina/Wil…if anyone else has any suggestions, please leave a review. Oh and if you don't have a preference, leave a review please.

Erk: What about the other suggestion?

Charlie: Oh yeah…well, it's probably gonna happen, but not until the end.


	3. Hark! The Hearld Angels Sing

Charlie: Hello y'all. Okay, I need to get something straightened out here. Ever since I've asked for pairings, I have gotten three different preferences for Florina… That's more than enough…WAY more than enough. Unfortunately for those who wanted something different…Wil/Florina was the first…and that's the pairing. And umm, no more suggestions for Florina pairings…PLEASE.

Erk: Yes… he finds it rather interesting that Florina received the most pairing suggestions, and yet she has the least pairings in the actual game out of the three Pegasus sisters.

Charlie: Yes…that is quite…interesting. Anyways. This is an early holiday special, and probably the last update of this year since I'm shoving off for Hawaii on the 21st. I will be updating my Halo fic soon, and getting a "real" holiday fic up. So, unless my teachers decide to give me no homework for the next week, this will be the last before 2005. Well, enjoy.

Erk: And he doesn't own FE or any of the Christmas songs he'll put in here.

Charlie: Quite true. Oh and by the way, I'm not an alcoholic. I'm only 16 years old…please, no misconceptions. Oh and because of the season…I'm err…making it Christmas in Lycia. Enjoy.

* * *

_One Year Later…_

It was a cool winter night in a small village just on the outskirts of Ostia. Everything was calm, peaceful. It was Christmas Eve, and the people were at home, done with the shopping and the rush. The streets were bare, except for one lone figure wobbling down the rode with a bottle of whiskey.

The man was young, just over eighteen. He wobbled down the street of this small village. He was clearly drunk. Taking swig after swig, the man hobbled towards an inn, singing a very popular Christmas song rather erratically because of his intoxicated state. But Christmas was here, and he was happy.

_Hark! the herald angels sing,  
Glory to the newborn King,  
peace on earth, and mercy mild,  
God and sinners reconcile.  
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,  
join the triumph of the skies;  
with the angelic host proclaim,  
'Christ is born in Bethlehem'  
Hark! the herald angels sing,  
Glory to the newborn King._

_Christ, by highest heaven adored,  
Christ, the everlasting Lord,  
late in time behold him come,  
offspring of a virgin's womb.  
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;  
hail, the incarnate deity,  
pleased as Man with to dwell,  
Jesus, our Emmanuel!  
Hark! the herald angels sing,  
Glory to the newborn King._

_Hail, the heaven-born Prince of peace!  
Hail the Sun of righteousness!  
Light and life to all he brings,  
risen with healing in his wings.  
Mild he lays his glory by,  
born that man no more may die,  
born to raise the suns of earth,  
born to give them second birth.  
Hark! the herald angels sing,  
Glory to the newborn King._

As he sang and drank without a worry or a care, he suddenly collided with a very fast moving object. Looking up, he saw an angelic face staring back at him. He had apparently collided into a beautiful young girl. Had he been sober, the man would've recognize the expression of fear in the girl's face. But the man has had one too many drinks. Not realizing that she paling from fear, he tried to start a conversation.

"Hello there, what is your name?" He asked.

The girl stood there looking back at him in silence, not daring to make a sound. She slowly started to move backwards and away from the drunk man. The man however, was too intoxicated to realize that. He continued the conversation as though nothing was wrong.

"My name is Charlie. I'm a, well, I was a tactician. Now I'm more of a 'wonderer' honing my skill. Say, why is a young girl like you doing outdoors on Christmas eve? Have you forgotten to buy a present? All the stores are closed now so you're a little bit too late."

With each passing word, the girl turned a paler shade of white. Before long, her skin color matched the hues of the falling snow. Her breaths came out in short, but soft gasps, as if she dared not to breathe, and her hands trembled ever so slightly. Slowly, uneasily, she edged away from the drunk, who continued to ramble. Finally, the man realized she was moving away, and took a step or two towards the girl. The girl then lost it. Abandoning all pretenses, she let out a frightful scream, turned around, and started running, heading towards Castle Ostia.

After she had ran nearly half a mile, she realized that no footsteps followed her. Turning her head, she found the man face down where he stood when had panicked. Coming to her senses she back towards him and felt for a pulse. Finding one, the girl took her scarf off and wrapped it around him. After making sure he was warm and could breathe, she dashed off towards the inn to get help.

The innkeeper was surprised at the young girl running in saying that a drunk man was unconscious outside. He decided to help her investigate. When the pair got the the fallen drunk, the innkeeper shook his head and sighed. He recognize the youth, barely over eighteen and already drinking more than people twice his age. Sighing, he and the girl moved the man inside and tucked him into his bed. The innkeeper thanked the girl for her troubles.

"You're welcome sir." She replied.

"Now you better be running along now. It's almost Christmas!." The innkeeper said in a jolly voice.

To his surprise, the girl began to cry. Tears of sadness rolled down her flushed cheeks as she wept. The innkeeper was puzzled. No young girl ever cried on Christmas Eve.

"Miss? Are you okay?" He asked. "Where do you live?"

The girl wiped her tears and said softly, "Castle Ostia."

The innkeeper flinched. He did not realize that she was a princess. But as he thought more about it, he remembered that the Late Marquess and Marchioness of Ostia bore two sons, and the current Marquess did not have a daughter, nor a wife and neither did his brother. He took a closer look at the girl and decided she was too well dressed to be a servant girl and too young to be a mistress. So he scratched his head and asked her what's wrong.

"…I…I don't want to go back." She said.

"Okay okay…but may I ask you who you are?" The innkeeper asked nervously.

"My name is Melodie. I was… in love with one of the spies of Ostia, Matthew, but…uhh…he betrayed..me"

As soon as the last word left her mouth, she began to wept again. The innkeeper sighed, and walked over to comfort the girl. Everyone in Ostia knew Matthew was in love with his fellow spy Leila. He looked down at the girl. He knew she had to be from another city and had no family to return to here in Ostia.

Unfortunately, it was Christmas in Ostia, and all his rooms were filled. There was no possible way she could sleep here unless she slept in the cold lobby or shared a room with one of the single guests. He shuddered at the thought of letting the girl sleep with any of the single guests, since they were all male, and he did not want to let her be in the cold for the night. So he stood there, not knowing what to do or say.

"Umm…mister." The girl suddenly said, breaking from his fatherly embrace. "Could I rent a room?"

"I'm sorry…" the innkeeper said. "I'm all booked. And all the single guests are male. I couldn't possibly let you share a room with them alone."

"Umm, could I sleep in that extra bed in the drunk man's room?" She asked.

"Are you crazy?" The man said sharply. "Do you have any idea what drunk men are capable of? If I let you sleep in that bed, there's a good chance that…"

"Don't worry…" The girl said shyly. "I know him. He was our tactician when we…well, not me, but the other members of Lady Lyndis' army fought against that usurper Lundgren."

"Ahh, so he's the famed boy? How did he ever command an army being that drunk and all?"

"To tell the truth…I have absolutely no idea. But…umm, just let me spend this one night there. I'm sure I'll be fine sir. He may be an alcoholic, but he never took advantage of anyone before, even on his worst nights." The girl pleaded.

"All right," the innkeeper conceded. "You can stay in that bed. But just to tell you, if anything happens, I am going to personally rip the stuffing out of that drunkard. Understand?"

Melodie nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

The innkeeper gave her an extra key to the room and said good night to her. Melodie climbed the stairs towards Charlie's room. Entering the room, she shut the door discretely behind her and walked over to Charlie's bed. Curious, she leaned over to poke him. He felt warm, alive, and very drunk. Melodie stifled a laugh. She couldn't believe that she had thought he was a zombie earlier, but with what happened a year ago, she couldn't blame herself.

-FLASHBACK-

"I'm sorry milady," A knight of Caelin was saying. "But…we can't find him anywhere. "He's probably dead…"

"Have you checked the bars?" Lyn asked

"Yes, and the wineries and the breweries, and everywhere else where you can buy a decent drink. He's gone milady. I'm sorry."

Lyn nodded tearfully. "It's okay…not your fault. You may leave…"

-END FLASHBACK-

Melodie still remembers that day. It was nearly a week after Charlie's disappearance. Caelin had held a fine funeral for him, believing him to be dead. The girl still remembers the tears they all shed, and the look of sadness on Lady Lyndis' face…the look of sadness on Matthew's face.

Matthew… just the sound of his name brought tears to her eyes. The bastard had tricked her. Melodie had come to Ostia with him, believing that he was hers. But when they arrived, she had found out Matthew already had a girl. That other spy, Leila. Melodie felt betrayed, and without a word to anyone, she ran from the castle, not knowing where she was going, but only wanting to get as far away as she possibly can from Matthew.

Charlie woke to the sound of Melodie's sobbing. Stirring gently, he instinctively brought a hand to his pounding head. He wonders why he likes to drink so much, since the damn hang-overs are killers. He laid there for a few minutes, letting his head clear, but as soon as he could think clearly again, he picked up a sobbing sound near him. Sitting up on the bed, he found a young brown-haired girl kneeling near his bed weeping.

"Umm miss?" Charlie asked slowly, not sure who she was and how she got into his room. "Excuse me, but how-"

Charlie's sentence was cut short when Melodie raised her head. Melodie looked when she heard Charlie's voice. Realizing that she had woken him, she quickly tried to apologize.

"Ahh, stop apologizing…but what are you doing here Melodie?" Charlie asked.

"…crying, what does it look like I'm doing?" Melodie snapped back.

"Well, go cry somewhere else. This is my room." Charlie said coldly. He still remembers the shaky feelings between him and Melodie. The two had been at odds ever since Charlie attempted to separate the two at the battle in the fog. He wasn't about to forget the bites and scratches he received during that little escapade.

Melodie however cried harder at his harsh words. Charlie's frown softened. He wondered why the girl was so upset. Was it because he yelled at her? Was it because he disappeared? No, none of it made sense to him, and his hang-over wasn't helping one bit. However, after a minute, it came to him. Melodie had never listened when Matthew told her that he already had Leila. And seeing as to how they were in Ostia right now, Charlie put two and two together and realized Melodie must have finally found out about Leila.

Hesitantly, Charlie sat up on his bed and leaned over to place a hand on Melodie's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Melodie…" Charlie said softly.

Melodie continued weeping, but she nodded softly and scooted close to Charlie for warmth. The ex-tactician scooped her onto the bed and hugged her lightly, letting the girl cry on his shoulder. He had no words he could say, and no way to express his feelings. In the pale moonlight, he saw how beautiful Melodie really was. Wondering if he was actually falling in love, or if it was just the booze, Charlie pulled her closer and comforted the distraught girl.

--

Matthew tore from the castle, leaving deep tracks in the snow. He realized Melodie had ran away just moments ago. Knowing that she has no family in Ostia and no home either, he ran off looking for her. As he wondered the streets, he cursed himself for not being more careful. In hindsight, he knew he should've saw this coming. Melodie had refused to believe in Leila, and now that the girl had confronted the real Leila, her heart had shattered.

The thief searched the city high and low, finding not even a single footprint. He was getting desperate when he came upon the inn. Smacking himself for being so damn stupid, he walked into the inn, knowing it was the only place Melodie could find shelter short of begging the populace.

The innkeeper saw the thief step into his inn, and he knew why he was here.

"Son, why the HELL did you have to decieve that girl?" He said softly but threatening.

"I'm sorry dad, but she refused to listen!" Matthew snapped back.

"What do you mean son?"

"Everytime I would try to bring up Leila, Melodie would just cover her ears and pretend not to listen. What was I supposed to do?"

The innkeeper looked sternly at the thief. "Sigh…I suppose you're right. But now what are you going to do? She's sleeping right now."

"What room?"

"She's up in room 243 with that drunk tactician of yours."

Matthew froze. "Did you say drunk…tactician?"

"Yeah," the innkeeper said inpatiently. "You know, that eighteen-year-old with the whiskey. Tall guy, can't miss him. Here's the key, now go!"

Matthew thanked his father silently and rushed up the stairs towards the room. Reaching the door, he fumbled with the key and created quite a racket trying to open the door. Finally, after unlocking the door correctly, Matthew swung it open, walked in, and promptly blacked out.

--

Charlie stood over Matthew's unconscious form, the chair which he smashed over his head lay in pieces on the ground next to the sprawled man. Melodie peeked her head out from behind him, holding onto Charlie's cloak.

"It's just Matt." Charlie said, letting out a sigh of relief.

Melodie walked out from behind him and looked at Matthew. Charlie saw tears welling up in her eyes. Moving over, he gently placed his arms around her.

"It's alright…" he whispered. "Come on, get some sleep, it'll be a while before our buddy here wakes up."

Melodie nodded gently, walked over to her bed and climbed in. In the darkness, she heard Charlie drag Matthew's body into his bed, and tuck the unconscious man in. Sighing, and supressing a few tears, Melodie sank back into the pillows and fell into a deep sleep.

--

A few hours later, Melodie woke up, refreshed. He saw Charlie sitting in a chair next to Matthew's bed. Leila was next to him. Melodie stiffened. Seeing Matthew was bad enough, but the last thing she needed was to see that woman.

Charlie noticed Melodie stirring, and walked over.

"Feeling better?"

"A little…" She mumbled. "What's Leila doing here."

"What do you think? She and Matt have been together for years. She was worried about him and came looking. Lets just say she wasn't happy about me knocking him out." Charlie smiled sheepishly. Melodie noticed the slight outline of a hand on his cheek and giggled a bit.

Leila watched Charlie talk to the girl for a bit before deciding to join in. She walked over with a pleasant smile and greeted the young girl.

"Hey, morning."

"Morning…" Melodie managed to mumble back.

Leila knew why Melodie was feeling hostile. They both loved the same man, although Leila was positive that Melodie's love was mere infatuation. The girl knew nothing of true love, she was sure of it.

"Melodie…look, I'm sorry but…"

"but what?"

"…but I love him too…and I've been with him longer…"

"So?"

Leila sighed. "Melodie…you're a girl."

"I'm fifteen." Melodie huffed indignantly.

"But you're still a girl. You don't know the true meaning of love."

"…"

"Please listen to me. You're still young, there will be plenty of boys lining up for you. You are quite the stunning young lady, but please don't ruin your life like I did by going after Matt. He's a living nightmare."

Melodie smiled for the first time since meeting Leila. "He is?"

Leila could sense the hostility melting. "Oh yeah… He's…well, lets just say he's a complete enigma. Can't figure him out, probably never will figure him out."

Melodie laughed lightly. It was a true laugh, pure, clean. Leila and Charlie smiled. The young girl's Christmas may be saved yet. Just then, Matthew stirred.

"Ugh…what happened?"

Leila rushed over to Matthew.

"It's alright…I'm here…

Charlie and Melodie decided to leave the lovebirds alone.

"Umm, you want breakfast?" Charlie asked.

"Sure!"

The two walked out of the room, leaving Leila to explain to Matthew how he became unconscious. Charlie took Melodie to a nearby café and bought breakfast for the two of them. Melodie obviously didn't eat the night before. She tore through her breakfast like a starved animal, cleaning her plate clean before Charlie even got halfway though.

"Wow…you're hungry. What did they feed you back at the castle?" He asked

"Erm…well, I was a bit…busy to eat." Melodie replied.

"Uh huh…I see." Charlie said, smiling.

"Hey, shut up!" Melodie said indignantly before tossing a packet of sugar at Charlie.

"Ow! Hey, watch it." Charlie laughed before tossing the packet back. Soon, the two had a war going on. The manager of the café had no choice but to toss the pair out.

Charlie and Melodie walked back to the inn laughing. On their way back, they saw Leila heading back to the castle. She received orders to see the Marquess for briefing on a new assignment. Apologizing to the pair, Leila told Charlie that Matthew wanted a few words with him. Then she handed the two each a gift and sped off towards the castle.

Charlie smiled and placed the sword-shaped packet in his bag. Then he looked down at Melodie. She had already opened her gift and was wearing it. Leila had given her a shiny bracelet, and Melodie absolutely loved it. Charlie smiled at the child-like behavior of the squealing girl next to him. Then, blushing, he reached into his bag and pulled out a beautiful necklace.

"Erm…hey Mel," He said shyly. "My mom gave this to me…and well, I don't really have any use for necklaces. So umm, Merry Christmas."

Melodie stared at Charlie and the necklace. Then, blushing she accepted the gift with a blush. After putting it on, she turned to Charlie and gave him a quick peck on the cheak.

"Thanks…" She whispered.

Charlie stared at the girl, rubbing the spot she kissed. He knew his face was as red as a tomato's right now, and he could find no words to say.

To his relief, the pair rounded the next corner and ran into Matthew. The thief glared at Charlie.

"You…ass. You disappear, make us think you're dead, and whack me over the head with a chair?!"

Charlie grinned sheepishly. "Eheh…sorry."

Then the two friends exchanged warm hugs and slapped each other's backs raw. Matthew looked at Melodie with an apology ready. To his surprise, Melodie smiled and shook her head.

"It's okay Matt…"

Matthew was shocked, and stood there speechless for a while. Melodie giggled at Matthew's antics and snuggled herself against Charlie's body, causing the man to turn completely red.

It only took Matthew a second then to figure it out. He gave Charlie a sly smile, before running off laughing his head off. Charlie shook loose from Melodie, ripped the new sword Leila gave him for Christmas out, and chased the laughing thief half-way across the city with a laughing Melodie at his heels.

--

A while later, Charlie, Matthew and Melodie were walking back to the castle, laughing and talking like old friends. After a bout of silence, Charlie remembered Leila's words.

"Erm, Matt. Leila said you needed to talk to me."

Matthew nodded "Yeah, it's about Marquess Pherae. He disappeared a while ago and now his son is planning to go out looking for him."

Charlie sighed. "Let me guess, Hector plans to join them, and you want me to be the tactician."

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Matthew smiled "So, will you do it?"

Charlie looked at Matthew and smiled. "What do you think I'm in Ostia for?"

"Heh, thanks buddy."

"Anytime."

With that settled, the trio walked towards the castle. After a while, Charlie and Melodie found themselves behind the agile thief by a quite the distance. Smiling, Melodie snuggled closer to Charlie, knowing that Matthew wouldn't abandon them.

Charlie smiled and put an arm around the girl. Without thinking, he leaned down to kiss her, lightly at first, but growing in passion as the couple stopped walking and faced each other to deepen the kiss. In the distance, Matthew saw the two making out and smiled to himself.

'Heh…Merry Christmas Charlie.' Matthew thought.

The thief then sat down in the soft snow and waited for the couple to finish. He was in no hurry. He knew Eliwood wouldn't abandon his family on Christmas, so he had time, and right now, as he looked at the clear sky above and the kissing couple below, it seemed like he had all the time in the word.

* * *

Charlie: …wow…that was sappy.

Leila: …

Charlie: What's wrong with her now?

Erk: Indecision. She can't decide whether to kill you for smashing Matthew's skull in, or hug you for getting Melodie off her man.

Charlie: Erm…okay, as long as she doesn't hurt me, I'm fine.

Erk: …yes…we all know. And what's with the song?

Charlie: It's my favorite Christmas song!

Erk: ...right...

Charlie: Okay… a twist for all you guys. The tactician and Melodie fall in love. Okay, I know Tactician/Lyn is popular. I am planning to put that in, but it's gonna be at the end. I won't say what happens to Melodie, but she and Charlie will NOT stay together. So don't worry

Erk: …trust him…Melodie is based off his Ex…who he has developed some chilly feelings for.

Charlie: …yes…well anyways, please review. Remember I'm accepting requests for couples.

Current couples:

Lyn/Tactician

Florina/Wil

Guy/Priscilla

Erk/Serra

PLEASE for the love of god do not request new pairings for these guys. Well, Merry Christmas Y'all. Have a happy holiday season. See you all next year.


	4. A Stale New Beginning

Charlie: Hello folks. Sorry for the long wait, but I wanted to mass update, and translate one of my earlier scripted storys back. I liked that one, so I'm hoping it'll be just as good. Some of you may remember it. It's "A day at the Office." If you don't know it, go check it out. It's a flat out comedy thingy. Anyways, this chapter of "A Tactician and a Thief" will be dedicated to my reviewer, X. Now, if you haven't seen X's reviews. It's quite…an eye-opener. Anyways, I have promised all pointless flamers that you'll get ridiculed. Not that I don't mind. I mean, by all means, go ahead and flame me for bashing Matthew. I need more people to pick on anyways. But folks, if you're gonna flame, telling me "YOU SUCKZORZ BECAUSE MATTHEW ROXORS YOUR SOXORS!" is not a good flame. Well, enjoy. And now, let's all take the pleasure of laughing at X. Nameless and Angel of Fate, you can start us off . And I do not own Fire Emblem. Oh yeah, and I originally planned to mass update all my fics...but I thought I'd get this one up early. The others still need a bit fixing up.

* * *

A Tactician and a Thief – Chapter 4

A Stale New Beginning. (New format to be cleaner with the title)

Charlie surveyed the surroundings. It wasn't pretty. Their only exit was blocked by a big burly ogreish guy, and archers and soldiers blocked virtually every last corridor imaginable. Sighing the young man turned towards a sandy-haired thief next to him.

"Tell me Matthew, if you knew about this earlier, why didn't you TELL me? It would've saved us so much more time."

"Well, I didn't expect there to be so many of these people." Matthew replied.

"Right, well unfortunately, you weren't smart enough to consider the people hiding behind other people. Or did you forget that the average knight's armor rivals the Hindenburg in size?"

"Oh shut up. You're the tactician, now get us out of here." Matthew grumbled, unhappy about having his screw up pointed out.

"Easy for you to say. Meh, oh well." Charlie sighed before turning towards a blue haired youth in heavy armor. "Lord Hector is it not?"

The man nodded.

"Good, you look like you have very good strength, plus you have a huge axe and heavy armor. I trust you know what to do with those soldiers and knights down there?" Charlie asked pointing towards a southward bound corridor littered with knights and soldiers.

"Of course. I'll smash them like the bugs they are." Hector roared before charging down the hall and causing general destruction and chaos.

After Hector had gone, Charlie turned towards Matthew. "Say, how do you typically fare in dodgeball?"

"…Umm, I am fairly decent. Why?" Matthew replied, but he had a growing suspicion. "…Oh dear, I have a bad feeling about this…"

"You see those archers over there?" Charlie said point towards the western corridor. "I hope you can dodge arrows well, because I ain't bringing Melodie through there unless the archers are all dead."

"…Wait a minute…you want ME…to go through THAT death trap?" Matthew said incredulously.

"Either that or you can follow Hector." Charlie said

Matthew took a look at Hector wildly swinging his axe around, beheading everything from enemy knights to the occational statue.

"…You got a third option?" Matthew said, not wanting to lose his head in an accidental swing from his young master.

"Sure, I could kill you right now." Charlie threatened.

"Point taken. Time to play some dodgeball." Matthew muttered before heading off towards archer city.

As Melodie and Charlie watched the thief head into archer city, Melodie began to fret over him.

"Will he be alright?" She asked.

"Eh…he'll be fine." Charlie replied. "…I hope."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" She screamed frantically.

"Er..nothing…come on…lets go." Charlie said before heading down the corridor to follow Hector.

Up ahead, Matthew began dodging the rain of arrows that hailed upon him. As he stole a glance backwards, he saw Charlie lead Melodie off towards Hector's corridor.

"…Oh that backstabbing son of a…." He muttered as more and more arrows flew his way. He sighed and kept dodging. After all, the archers had to run out of arrows someday.

When Hector smashed his way to the back door, only a lone knight stood between him and freedom. So he stood there, waiting for the others to get to him. Not long after, the new kid Matthew brought with him, Charlie, showed up. Hector had to hand it to him. The kid knew the kinds of people Hector was good against. He was gaining some valuable fighting experience.

"Where's Matthew?" Hector asked Charlie as he walked up with a squeamish Melodie.

"Eh, he should be here soon, either that or he's dead already." Charlie said.

Melodie fainted upon hearing the mention of death. Fortunately, Charlie caught her before she fell into a pool of blood Hector so kindly left on the palace floors.

"Well, he better be here soon. I think the chap at the door is getting impatient." Hector said, noting the knight at the door, who was currently screaming phrases such as "ARE YOU GONNA STAND THERE ALL DAY OR ARE YOU GONNA COME AND KILL ME?" Charlie had to admit, it was getting annoying.

Moments later, Matthew arrived with a few arrows sticking out from his arms and legs. Amazingly, the archers managed to hit just about everything but his vitals.

"…I hate you Charlie." He muttered while pulling out arrows from his limbs and wrapping himself up.

"What? Me? After all I've done for you?!" Charlie said sarcastically. Hector choked to hold in his laughter.

"Right…I should be THANKING you for my blood loss, extreme pain, and the dislocation of my spleen, which I still haven't been able to find." Matthew retorted.

"Oh shut up and go kill the doorman." Charlie said waving at the knight guarding the door.

"You don't really expect me to do that now would you?!" Matthew said even more incredulously, hoping that it was a joke.

"Of course! After all, you are the best fighter there is in all of Lycia!" Charlie said with a sarcastic admiration.

"What? Who said that?!" Matthew asked.

Charlie pointed to a person who stood in the shadows with dreamy eyes. "Him…err…or her……it. Yeah. It. Can't tell if he/she/it is male or female. All I know is he/she/it has a single letter for a name. And all he/she/it's been able to say was: 'You suck. Matthew is the best. You suck…Matthew is the best!' It got a bit annoying. But since you are CLEARLY the best of the land, I'm sure a simple knight would pose no problem." Charlie said with an amazingly straight face.

Matthew grumbled as he pulled out his dagger and headed for the knight, who seemingly is glued to the spot he's standing on. As he walked up, he found that the castle employee had come out of the shadows, and was cheering him on with crazy cheerleader chants. Matthew groaned, the cheering just had reduced Hector and Charlie into laughing fools. .

When Matthew came up to the knight, the knight took one look at him and started laughing.

"AHAHAHAH! What's a little boy like you gonna do?" He chuckled.

"I have come to take you down." Matthew replied.

"In your state?" The knight gasped. "What're you gonna do to me? Bleed on me?"

Matthew was furious; he pulled out his dagger and stabbed the man in the chest…or at least his chest plate. The dagger snapped upon contact and fell into two pieces on the ground, useless. The knight laughed and raised his lance...

The next thing Matthew saw was Charlie and Hector's laughing faces. The fan…thing was next to the two, ane he/she/it was diligently patching up his head.

"…ugh, what happened?"

"Well, you broke your sword on his armor…got hit in the head, and passed out." Charlie said. "Hector here dragged you out of there."

"Oy…" Matthew groaned. "Was it that bad?"

"Well, considering the knight was yawning when he hit you…yeah." Hector answered.

"Yep, now you just rest now." Charlie continued. "Hector, go finish him."

"Aye." Hector nodded before stalking off.

X, or so people in the palace call him/her/it, immediately tried to stop the lord. "But Sir Tactician! You must give Lord Matthew a chance! He will do better!"

Charlie stared at the creature. "At what?! Dying?! No thanks! I think the janitor's had enough blood to clean from these floors."

"No! At defeating the enemy and proving his strength!"

"Right…" Charlie said. "You keep thinking that while I go with the realistic approach here. Finish him Hector!"

Hector needed no further encouragement as he raised his axe and slammed it into the knight, killing him.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The knight screamed balefully with his last breath. "AND I WOULD'VE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU MEDDLING KIDS! …and that THING!" And thus he died.

Hector put away his axe and joined Charlie and Matthew. Melodie was stirring, so everyone was relieved, except for of course X, who was on his/her/its feet protesting the "indignation Charlie placed upon Matthew's head by not allowing the greatest warrior of all time fight." Charlie and Hector looked at each other making rather rude gestures about the creature's sanity during the his/her/its 10 minute long speech. When he/she/it finished, the two bound and gagged him/her/it, and shipped the creature off in a box to the Ostian Mental Institution, where they hope that the man would receive something to right his head or euthanasia. Secretly, both men hoped for the latter option.

After that had been taken care of. Charlie and Hector gingerly carried Matthew and Melodie out of the blood stained back of the castle and headed out into the city. After stopping by at Charlie's room in the local inn to allow Melodie and Matthew to fully recover, the four set out for Pherae, seeking to help a friend in need. Little do they know that they'll find something much bigger…and much more catastrophic.

* * *

Charlie: Yeah, half-assed ending. But my eyes are killing me right now. Stupid allergies. Anyways. The chapter's will be getting shorter for now because I'll be going by one game chapter at a time. Of course, some chapters will be longer…and others will take two chapters to finish. So yeah. I'll try to keep it moving along as fast as I can. Now to answer my dear reviewers.

Nightmare: Heh, well everyone's entitled to their opinions. Matthew is quite charming. And about the bashing…it'll get worse, but I don't constantly do it so yeah. Hope you won't mind it too much

Nameless: Heh, glad you like my fics that much. Meh, Lyn won't have to do much. I have plenty of plot twists coming

Angel of Fate1: yes dear sister. You know I cannot resist.

X: My dear X. My how I enjoy your flames. Really, I do. But I must say, you insult me when you assume that I like Jaffar. I don't. Jaffar is a creepy, disturbed mental case. Well, it's been jolly good meeting you. Don't pointlessly flame again. I can do worse than what I just did.

Well, hope you enjoyed. I dislike making examples out of people. But don't flame me just because of a difference in opinion. Flame me for bad spelling, grammer, my half assed ending, anything. But if you pointlessly flame me because "Matthew roxors and I suxors," I will ridicule you. Well, good day folks. Leave a critique if you feel like I need one or deserve one. This chapter is kinda not that characteristic to my style...but it's close enough. I'm still a bit rusty from Hawaii so bear with me.


	5. Left Behind

Charlie: Hello. Sorry for the freakishly long wait. Anyways, I'm gonna continue this. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and gave me nice comments (or bashed X). To each their own opinions, I will respect the fact that many of you like Matthew. One of my very good friends is a Matthew-fan. However, I do want to be respected for my dislike of Matthew. But if you feel like flaming me and going "OMG YOU SUCKS AND MATTHEW ROXORS!" I will just do to you what I did to X. Anyways, this chapter, random insanity, someone leaves (guess who) and we meet Jellywood- I mean Eliwood. Enjoy.

* * *

Hector, followed closely by Matthew, Melodie and the newly acquired tactician Charlie raced towards Pherae in hopes of finding young Lord Eliwood whose father went missing. Along the way, the foursome met up with a knight and cleric of Ostia, who were sent by Hector's brother Uther to look after the hot headed lording. They were soon nearing Pherae. Unfortunately, they suddenly saw a large amount of bandits ahead of them.

"Charlie, come take a look." Hector said.

The tall tactician went forward and squinted against the sunlight. He scanned the field.

"Hmm, a ton of brigands, a few warriors, couple of rogue Pegasus knights and a few archers." Charlie said. "Nothing special. Looks like a dirty raid to me."

"Should we help them?" Hector asked.

"You're the Lord here." Charlie returned. "Personally, I would want to take every single one of them and smash their heads into a sharp rock. But then, that's me."

Charlie smiled at Hector who smiled back and brought his axe to the front.

Serra saw Hector get ready for battle and squealed.

"YAY! A FIGHT!" She screeched. "FUN!"

Matthew and Oswin smacked their foreheads as they prepared their weapons. Serra was always the most excited about battle, even though she never fought. Secretly, both men wished that the cleric would soon become a bishop, so she would actually be able to taste battle.

Meanwhile, Charlie directed Hector towards the Pegasus knights and had Oswin guard against any stragglers that Hector failed to catch. Matthew, being the unfortunate one, was ordered to do hit and fade attacks against the biggest massed bandit group Charlie could find.

"Okay, remember Matthew, don't get hit." Charlie said.

"Gee, thanks for the support." Matthew groaned and headed into what he was sure was a suicide attack.

The thief moved nimbly in and out of the enemy's line of sight, slowly picking off members to the side.

After making sure that all his men were okay, Charlie directed his attention towards another group of fighters the bandits seem to be focusing on. Using his keen eyesight, the tactician tried to make out the leader of the other group. His eyes landed on a young man fighting with a rapier who had a head of flaming red hair.

"HECTOR!" Charlie yelled as soon as he figured out who the man was.

"What!" Hector hollered back after loping the head off another bandit. "It better be important!"

"Look to the South field! Is that Eliwood!" Charlie asked.

Hector got confused and blindly looked around.

"Sigh…South is to your right!" He yelled sighing heavily.

Hector then looked in the right direction and saw the beacon of red hair.

"ELIWOOD!" Hector called out. "IT IS HIM!"

The red haired youth must've heard the call because he looked up and saw the ragtag group and waved. Charlie waved back and then signaled for Eliwood to try to fight his way up. The young man nodded his head furiously in agreement and urged his troops North.

Unfortunately, that's when the tactician noticed that a brigand had snuck up behind him. Moving quickly, the man flung himself to the side and avoided being bisected by mere inches. The tactician quickly drew his sword.

The fight between the bandit and Charlie wasn't much of a fight at all. The bandit swung forward fiercely and the tactician struggled to keep up even though he had a sword. Soon, he was pushed up against a tree and with one swipe; his sword came free of his hands.

The bandit smiled menacingly and raised his axe to deliver the fatal blow. Charlie knew it was over. Faced with death, the tactician watched the axe rise above the bandit's head and then fall.

He waited for the final blow.

He got nothing but a agonized screech.

When Charlie opened his eyes. He saw Melodie with the axe through her shoulder blocking him from certain death. The bandit was confused as he pulled his blood soaked axe back up. But soon he saw that he had two targets now, and one was quite and attractive one. He bared his rotten teeth and got ready to swung again.

Charlie leaned over and held Melodie close to him, applying pressure to her injured shoulder. He knew that he would die soon, but he hoped that the girl in his arms would be spared. He was suddenly shaken from his reverie when the bandit's dead body fell to the ground with an arrow through his neck. When Charlie looked up he saw a green haired archer girl holding an iron bow looking at him with a concerned expression. Wasting no time, he gestured towards the injured Melodie and asked for the girl to fetch Serra.

Moments later, Serra came with a shriek and began fussing over Melodie's injured shoulder. Charlie went back to see the progress of the battle.

When he arrived at the battle field, he noticed that Matthew was standing there with a bloodied dagger and an expression of absolute glee.

"Oh man, I saw the whole thing!" Matthew snickered.

"What!" Charlie asked confused.

"You my friend!" Matthew said bursting with uncontrollable laughter. "You got owned by a bandit!"

"…oh shut up Matthew." Charlie grumbled and he left the shrieking thief for Hector.

"We've mopped them all up." Hector said. "So, what's Matthew so happy about?"

"Charlie got owned by a bandit!" Matthew shouted.

"What!" Hector said and he to began to laugh. Charlie was now officially pissed.

"That's it!" he shouted and proceeded to throw rocks at the laughing thief and lording.

That's when Serra showed up with Melodie.

"She's bad, we need to get her to town." Serra said.

Charlie nodded and had everyone pack up and retreat into a nearby village.

That night, Matthew and Charlie stood outside the inn they were staying at while waiting for the doctor to finish.

"That was rich my man, you got owned by a pirate." Matthew said with glee.

"Oh will you SHUT UP with that!" Charlie groaned. "Anyways, how many allies did we gain?"

"Well, we got Eliwood and that Rebecca girl who saved your neck." Matthew counted off. "There's Marcus of the Pherae Knights and Lowen as well. And Bartre and Dorcas, two fighters. I'm sure you remember Dorcas."

"Yes, I do." Charlie said. "Now all we need is-"

Charlie was cut off by a swarm of girls who slammed into his unfortunate companion.

"The hell?"

"UWAH! HE'S SO CUTE! WHEN DID YOU GET INTO TOWN!" One of the girls screamed.

"TAKE ME WITH YOU!"

"HE'S MINE!"

"I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABY!"

Charlie stood to the side and laughed as Matthew attempted in vain to escape the death trap of fangirls. He was about to help buthe thensaw Hector with the doctor so he turned around and left Matthew to his fate.

"How is it doc?" Charlie asked.

"She'll live, but she won't be able to go anywhere for a month." The doctor replied.

"This is bad Charlie." Hector said. "I know how you feel about her, but… Eliwood wants to find his father, and well… we were thinking about leaving her behind."

Charlie stayed silent for a while. "Okay… it's better this way anyways. She won't be in danger."

The two men thanked the doctor and bid him farewell.

"So, how do you feel?" Hector asked.

"Well, I'm not drinking." Charlie said.

"Is that a good thing?"

"You tell me. I drink when I'm happy, but when I drink, bad stuff happens."

"Heh. Well, get some rest. We'll spend a day here. You can say your goodbyes." Hector said.

"Thanks."

"So…what's happening to Matthew? Is that a gang-rape or something?" Hector asked as he watched Matthew getting savagely swarmed.

"No, just his fans." Charlie chuckled. "I hope we don't have to leave HIM behind as well. I need cannon fodder."

"Hehe." Hector chuckled.

Just then, the men were interrupted by a strangely familiar voice.

"OH GODS! YOU MUST SAVE HIM!"

Charlie and Hector turned around and saw an all too familiar face.

"YOU!" The men said in unison.

"Yes, it is I, X! And I have come to avenge my idol! How could you let Master Matthew be swarmed like this!"

Charlie and Hector exchanged glances. "After you?" Charlie asked.

"Watch and learn bandit boy."

"Hey! Now THAT'S hitting below the belt" Charlie said as he watched Hector knock the consciousness out of the…thing that called him/her/itself X. The two then proceeded to bind and gag the creature and dump him/her/it into a nearby garbage dump.

"Well, that takes care of that. Get some sleep Charlie. We're heading to Santurez soon."

Charlie nodded and headed into the inn.

Hector marched to where Matthew was being drowned in attractive and not so attractive young girls. "Having fun Matt?"

"Get…me…out…" Matthew begged.

"All right, party's over! GIT!" Hector said waving his arms around wildly.

The girls all screamed bloody murder and ran away as fast as they could. Matthew was in a poor sight. His face muddied and covered in what looked like lipstick. His clothes were in tatters and he was covered in cuts and bruises.

"Quite the ladies man, aren't you?" Hector asked.

"I never felt so violated." Matthew groaned stretching his legs out.

"Heh, well get some rest. We leave for Santurez in two days. Eliwood say that there's some information about his father there.

"Okay…how's Melodie?"

"Bad…" Hector said. "We're leaving him behind."

"Charlie's okay with that?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah, he took it well." Hector said. "But he's not drinking."

"Give him some time, he'll get so wasted that you'll make it your sworn goal to ruin his day so he wouldn't drink." Matthew joked.

"Hah, don't joke like that kid before I throw you to the wolves again. Now come on, lets go." Hector said.

The two men shared a good laugh and went into the inn. From the garbage ditch, a bound and gagged X struggled fiercely against his bonds.

'I'll get you!' He screamed in his mind before the garbage collector hit him over the head with a shovel thinking that he was a raccoon.

* * *

Charlie: Okay, I'm still warming up. And I haven't been feeling good today. This took me like…hours to type. This little…yes. Anyways, it'll go on. Melodie's being left behind. Yep. And amazingly, I didn't drink. Well, enjoy and please review!

Oh by the way, X got two cameos because he pointlessly flamed me twice. We are now officially even. But if you guys like X, I'll make him show up and get abused every chapter.


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